


A Grimm in the Family

by lionessvalenti



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen, Gen Fic, Jossed, POV Female Character, character history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-01
Updated: 2012-03-01
Packaged: 2017-10-31 23:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/349585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Juliette has hidden her family history from Nick for years. Now it's time for the truth to come out. Someone's life may depend on it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Mama always said that she'd marry someone just like her father.

Not that Nick was anything like Juliette's father, not really. He was sweet and had a kindness about him that she never would have expected from a cop. She liked that about him, that he was so compassionate. He was actually a cop because he wanted to help and protect people.

Besides, they weren't married. Not yet, anyhow. She'd found the ring in his sock drawer (he was a lovely man, but not exactly creative in his hiding spots), so it seemed marriage would be in their future, if he ever got around to asking.

The truth was, Mama had been right.

 

 

Juliette peered out the window, the morning sunshine warm against her face, and smiled when she felt Nick's arm wind around her from behind.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder. His grip loosened when he saw the kids standing in front of their house. "Damn it, I talked to those kids' parents. They shouldn't be there."

"At least they're not egging the house this time," she replied. "They're just standing there. If you walk out on the porch, they'll run away just like they did before. You don't even need to take out your gun."

He sighed, his breath tickling her hair against her skin. "You're right. I'll go down there like an old man. _Kids, get off my lawn!_ "

Juliette laughed and elbowed him gently in the stomach. "That's right, use your words."

He kissed her shoulder through her shirt and pulled away. The floorboards of the old house creaked as he walked across the bedroom, followed by the sounds of him thundering down the stairs. She heard the front door open, and the kids scattered almost immediately.

With a smile, Juliette stepped away from the window. She slipped on her shoes and headed downstairs too. "I see you were successful," she called, but when she turned the corner, Nick was on the phone. His brow was furrowed seriously, so it was clearly a work call.

"I'll meet you there," he said and hung up the phone and looked up at Juliette apologetically. "I know it was supposed to be our Sunday, but--"

"Crime doesn't the weekend off, I know." She moved closer took his hand. "We can try this again next Sunday."

"I will make this up to you," Nick said, his eyes full of promise. He kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied and watched as Nick grabbed his jacket and was out the door. She looked around the living room and sighed. Now what was she supposed to do? They'd had the whole day planned. She didn't suppose she wanted to go to the movies or have a picnic lunch in the park all alone.

Finally, Juliette made up her mind. She pulled her red coat from the closet and went out the garage to get her bicycle. It was a beautiful morning, and it felt silly to waste it inside just because she was by herself.

It was nice outside, the sun shining down on dewy grass, but there was still a spring chill in the air. Juliette hadn't gone far when she wished she had thought to grab a hat before she'd left.

She spent so much of her time with Nick or at work, being alone was actually sort of nice. The last time she'd had any extended time by herself where she wasn't busy doing something was the night Nick had spent in the hospital after Stark had wrecked the house. Juliette shivered, but it wasn't from the cold.

She never told Nick how much that night had scared her. She'd been with Nick for nearly three years, and being a cop's girlfriend wasn't easy. She tried not to worry about him, but that had been the closest call he'd ever had. This man had been in their _home_. He could have killed Nick if she hadn't shown up when she had. It was all a blur to her. She hadn't thought. She used her resources.

_"What does it matter if I know this?" Juliette asked, only the way a sullen fifteen-year-old could. "We all know this isn't going to be my life."_

_"We're always a target," Daddy replied. "You're a target just as much as I am. And if something happens to Lacey--"_

_"Nothing's going to happen to Lacey," Juliette said. She stood up and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You're going to make sure of that. We're not stupid, Daddy. Isaac and I know that we're just the other kids. We learn and we train, but we know it's all about Lacey."_

_Daddy's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you're not stupid? You never know which one of you could save all our lives. You're quick. You think on your feet. You use your resources. Of course you do. It's in your blood. Even if you aren't the one, this is always going to be a part of you."_

A car horn blew and Juliette jumped. She was stopped at a light and while a few cars had clearly gone around her, someone broke her from her daze. She raised her hand in a grateful wave and started further down the street.

No, she'd never be a Grimm, but Daddy had been right. It was part of her.

It seemed like the time was coming when Nick would have to tell her who he was, or she would have to tell him that she knew. That she'd known he was going to be a Grimm longer than he had. She'd known before she'd even met him.

That was why she met him in the first place.

 

 

Nick called to say he'd be late. He and Hank had a few leads and they were sitting around, practically alone in the precinct on a Sunday evening, waiting on a warrant. That late on the weekend, it was going to take longer than usual.

"It's fine," Juliette said with her cell phone wedged between her ear and shoulder as she slathered mayo on a slice of brown bread. "Just make sure you don't drink too much coffee. You'll stay up all night, you'll sleep all day and then I'll never really see you."

"I'll try to be good," Nick replied and she could hear the fond smile in his voice. "Don't wait up for me."

"I won't," she promised. They said their goodbyes, and she set down her knife so she could hang up the phone. She looked around the counter. There were a stack of cheese and turkey sandwiches next to a tub of store bought cole slaw and a bag potato chips. The apple pie she'd made the night before (back when she thought she and Nick would be sharing the picnic) was already sitting in the bottom of the picnic basket with the paper plates and plastic cutlery.

By the six o'clock had rolled around, Juliette had the feeling Nick wasn't going to be home for dinner. That was when she starting putting together the picnic she and Nick had missed that afternoon. She figured he and Hank could at least get good use out of it.

She packed up the basket and loaded it into the car. It wasn't a long drive to the precinct, and the parking lot was practically empty when she pulled it. She didn't go down to the station very often, but it still felt familiar. It sort of felt like Nick.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside, the wicker basket hanging off her arm from the crook of her elbow.

"Hey, Juliette, what are you doing here?"

She jumped and spun around, holding her free hand to her chest. "Hank, you scared me half to death," she said. She grabbed the basket, pulling it from her arm, and held it up. "I couldn't bear the thought of you guys eating out of a vending machine or ordering another pizza -- you guys eat way too much of it."

Hank laughed. "You're the best. Let me carry that for you."

"Well, thank you." Juliette handed him the basket and she followed him further into the station.

"Hey, look who showed up," Hank said, motioning over his shoulder with his thumb. "And look what she brought us."

Nick pushed away from his desk in his chair. "Juliette, hey." He stood up and kissed her. "You didn't have to do this."

"I know I didn't," she replied, "but I wanted to. There's more than enough for both of you. I didn't know who else would be around. And the pie on the bottom is missing a pretty big piece, but it's waiting for me at home."

"Do you want to stay and eat with us?" Nick asked. "We're not doing anything else. We can't take another step forward until we get this warrant."

Juliette went over to where Hank had set the basket on Nick's desk. She started unpacking it with a smile. "No, I'll leave you guys to your work and your meal."

Nick leaned against her and pressed a kiss to her neck. "Thank you," he murmured.

"Oh, come on," Hank said, reaching into the basket for a sandwich. "Get a room. Or at least take it somewhere else while I'm eating."

Juliette laughed and bumped Nick away from her with her hip. "I'm going to go," she said with a smile. "I'm going to have an affair with my pie, and I will see you later." She turned toward Nick for another kiss, but a photograph on his desk caught her eye. She stopped and with a shaking hand, picked up the picture. "Is this your suspect?"

Nick tilted his head into her view. "No, that's our victim." He placed his hand on her arm. "Juliette, do you know him?"

Her breath caught in her chest. It was a face she hadn't seen in years, but she'd never forget it. She swallowed hard. "This is the man who murdered my father."


	2. Chapter 2

Juliette folded her hands in her lap and tapped the heel of her shoe against the floor. She sat in the chair next to Nick's desk as she watched him and Hank talk quietly from across the room.

Nick clapped his hand against Hank's arm and walked over to the desk. He sat down and took her hands and said, "I just need to ask you a few question about Nolan Bane. His record was totally clean. There wasn't a speeding ticket, let alone violent crimes."

"Nolan Bane?" Juliette repeated. "He must have changed his name. He was going by Eric Dumaine when... I saw him last."

He held up the photo. "Are you positive this is him?"

"I know it's him, Nick. I'm never going to forget his face. I saw him beat my father and drag him off. I watched while it happened. That's him."

"Okay, okay." Nick set the photo down on his desk. "I know this hard, but--"

"Ask anything," Juliette replied. "I can tell you all about that night."

"Are you sure? If it's too difficult--"

"No, honey, it's fine. It was a long time ago, and if it helps your investigation, I want to." She looked down at their hands. "Though, I have to admit, I'm not exactly sad that he's dead. I'm sorry."

He reached up and touched her cheek. "That's okay. That's normal. As long as you didn't kill him."

She raised her gaze and they smiled at each other. She shook her head. "No, I didn't even know he was in Portland. When Daddy died, we were in New Mexico. I was eighteen. We were camping outside of Santa Fe and we were attacked."

"He just attacked your family?" Nick sounded a little skeptical. "There wasn't a fight or any provocation?"

"I..." Juliette lifted her hands and covered her face. "Oh, god, Nick, I didn't know how to say this. I didn't know how to tell you." She dropped her hands and groaned. "I kept thinking you'd bring it up, and now I don't know how to say it."

Nick's brow furrowed. "This is about us?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "It's not, but it is. It's about you and my family. I lied to you, Nick, about how I grew up. I wasn't an army brat. I traveled around the country in an RV until I went to college."

He blinked at her, his mouth open, but no words came out. He took a deep breath. "I think you need to start at the beginning."

Juliette looked past Nick at where Hank was standing further away, munching on one of the sandwiches she'd brought. He was watching them, but was pointedly keeping a distance, giving them privacy. She licked her lips and sat up a little straighter as she turned her gaze back to Nick. "Eric Dumaine -- Nolan Bane, whatever, he stalked my family for seven months across fourteen states."

"Why didn't you report it to the police?" Nick asked.

"We couldn't," she replied. "We handled this stuff ourselves."

"Why?"

She swallowed. This wasn't how she'd imagined telling Nick about her past, but the moment had arrived. "Because then we would have had to explain to the cops that my father was a Grimm," she said in a low voice so Hank wouldn't overhear, "and that Nolan Bane was a Kieshaut."

Nick rolled back in the chair, his face going pale. "You're a Grimm?" he asked in a stressed whisper.

"No! I'm nothing. There's only one per generation in a family. The first one in the generation. My sister's one."

"Lacey," Nick deadpanned. "Tiny, blonde Lacey. I've seen the pictures, she's smaller than you are."

Juliette's shoulders sagged. "That doesn't have anything to do with it and you know that. Doing what you do now, would have you have suspected Marie?"

"No," he admitted. He leaned over, resting his face in his hands for a moment. He sat up. "I'm going to have to wrap my head around this."

"Sorry," Juliette muttered, looking down at her hands. Now, not telling Nick about her past seemed like a huge mistake. She never thought they'd be having this conversation here, or under these circumstances.

"Could she have done this?" Nick asked, and Juliette raised her gaze to him. "Could Lacey have tracked him here and killed him?"

She shrugged, but it seemed right. Lacey had probably been hunting Dumaine for years. Why else would a Kieshaut be in Portland unless he was on the run?

"Juliette?"

"It's possible," she said quickly, regaining her focus. "I'd like to think she'd tell me if she were in town, but she's not one to call. But, Nick, if she did it, something went wrong. There's no way she would have left the body there for someone to find. There are steps you take. Precautions. There's a reason all the Grimms aren't in prison for murder."

He rolled the chair closer to her. "I knew there were others, but Marie said she didn't know them. Do you know others? Did you... did you know about my family when you met me?"

"I knew who you were when we met," Juliette said. "Does that make a difference?"

"I don't know. I don't... it doesn't," Nick replied. He took her hand and stared up at her with those eyes she loved so much. "Could you get in contact with Lacey?"

"I can try," Juliette said, "but it's her whole life, Nick. She doesn't do anything else except travel around in her van, just like we did when we were growing up. She has a cell phone, but she doesn't take calls. She leaves her phone off most of the time so she can't be tracked by it. She likes being cut off."

He shook his head. "I couldn't do that."

"I couldn't either," she replied. She reached up and touched Nick's hair. "But can we talk about all of that at home. Not here."

Nick glanced over his shoulder where Hank was still eyeing them. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "Could you leave Lacey a message? We could at least narrow down if she's in the area or not."

Juliette bit her lower lip.

"You know I have to follow the lead."

"I know, I know." She tilted her head back and sighed. She looked back at Nick and tried to hold back her tears. "This man killed our father. He wasn't even a man. If Lacey did this, I can't fault her for it, Nick. You know that. You know how it works."

"I do," he said, squeezing her hand. "But I still have to do my job. Can you help me with that?"

"You know I will," Juliette replied. _Not_ helping Nick hadn't crossed her mind, but he had to understand why she had reservations. "I'll call her from home, if you don't mind. There'll be a little bit more privacy than here."

Nick nodded. "Good idea. Let me walk you to your car," he said, and held her hand as they left the building together. He glanced over at her. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I guess I was waiting for you to tell _me_."

"I thought that you would think I was crazy," Nick said. "I didn't know how to tell you. And I thought by keeping you in the dark, I protecting you. Then I wanted to tell you to protect you and all of that worrying was completely unimportant, wasn't it?"

Juliette smiled. "It's sweet that you worried. And if I had come from any other family, I might have thought you were crazy, so I can understand where you'd have thought that."

He grinned at her. "This is amazing. Talking to you about this. Can you see them? Is that something you can do?"

"No, I don't have any specials abilities. I told you, nothing. I've never seen their true faces, except for drawings in books. I studied all about the Wesen growing up. I could have aced the theory exam, but even though I trained to fight them, I wouldn't be able to identify them on sight."

Nick's eyes lit up. "I have someone I want you to meet. What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Work, then.... meeting your friend, I guess. We can have him over. I'll cook." Juliette narrowed her eyes as she gazed at him. "Your friend is..."

"A he, yeah," Nick assured her with a chuckle.

She laughed, too. "No, I wasn't worried about that. I meant, he's a... Wesen, isn't he?"

"Wieder Blutbad. He's been helping me with some cases and other Grimm stuff. He knows a lot about different species."

Juliette nodded. She was glad someone had been there for Nick when he needed them, but _she_ knew a lot about different Wesen species as well. If he'd talked to her about this in the beginning, she could have helped him. Of course, she could have talked to him about it, too. It might have been easier if she had.

Nick touched her cheek. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I should go and make that call to Lacey. And don't forget to bring the picnic basket home, okay? If it stays here overnight, I'll never get it back. Like half of your shirts."

"I won't forget," he said with a laugh. He leaned forward and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Juliette replied. She took a deep breath. "Could you... would it be possible to not tell anyone about Lacey just yet? We don't even know that she's in the area. Without telling anyone that she's a Grimm, it just looks like you're suspecting--"

"It would make you look like just as much as a suspect." Nick pursed his lips and nodded. "I get it. We're following the lead, and... as long as there's nothing behind it, I can keep it between us."

She squeezed Nick's hand. "Thank you, honey. Go enjoy your dinner. We'll talk about this stuff later."

Nick nodded and opened the car door for her. "Stay safe."

They kissed again, and Juliette got into the car. Nick stepped back and stood in the parking lot until she was out on the road.

The drive home went by in a blink of an eye. Before she knew it, Juliette was pulling into the driveway. She climbed out of the car, pulling her coat around her body as she hurried up the front porch steps.

Once inside, Juliette sank on the sofa, holding her phone in both hands. She flipped through her phone book and pulled up Lacey's phone number.

Staring at the number, she thought about what she was going to say. She couldn't very well accuse Lacey of killing Eric Dumaine -- Nolan Bane, whatever he was calling himself now -- at least not in so many words. But what if she had done it? Lacey wouldn't have considered it murder. Juliette wasn't even sure if _she_ considered it murder. 

She took a deep breath and hit the call button. Unsurprisingly, the call went straight to voicemail. There was no personalized message from Lacey, just a monotoned voice reciting the number back at Juliette.

"Hey, Lacey, it's your sister," Juliette said after the beep. "I'm just calling to see where you are. Eric Dumaine, um, he was killed today. I wanted to be sure you knew about it. Lacey, please call me back. I'm worried. If you were the one who did it, I know you wouldn't be so sloppy. So, just, please call, okay? I love you."


	3. Chapter 3

Juliette picked the romaine lettuce out of the colander and set it on the cutting board to start chopping it into bite-sized pieces. It had been nearly 24 hours since she'd called Lacey, but she still hadn't heard anything back. It wasn't completely uncommon. It might take Lacey a few days to get back to her, but Juliette couldn't shake a feeling of dread.

She tried to push it aside. Nick's Blutbad friend was joining them for dinner, and she didn't want to be distracted.

Juliette tried not to have expectations, or let any lingering childhood prejudices taint her view. She knew plenty of Wesen just wanted to live their lives and not harm anyone. Of course, Blutbaden weren't exactly known for being peaceful. She'd heard of reformed Wesen before, but Daddy had certainly been the attack first, ask question later sort of Grimm.

Nick seemed to have a different method, but that didn't surprise Juliette. His sweetness and compassion were the things that attracted him to her in the first place. If Nick said Monroe was a good guy, she was going to give him a chance.

She felt the fact that she was cooking a completely vegetarian dinner (fettuccine Alfredo with garlic bread and a salad), specifically requested by Nick for Monroe, was a good sign. But what had she expected to make? Raw steak with a glass of Cabernet?

There was a knock at the door, and Juliette, her hands still busy with salad, called, "Nick, can you get that?"

"Got it!" he replied, and a moment later she heard the door open and close. Her knife stilled in the lettuce, her hand squeezing tightly around the handle, as she strained to hear what they were saying.

"So, this is it, then?" said the unfamiliar voice -- Monroe. "You're telling her?"

"Actually, she told me," Nick said. "Her father was a Grimm. She grew up with it. She probably knows more about it than I do."

"Your girlfriend comes from a lines of Grimms? Are you serious? That's -- isn't that a really weird coincidence?"

"We haven't really had a chance to talk about it yet. I've been busy with the new case--"

"Oh, yeah, how's that going?"

"Not good. We had a suspect and we got warrant to search his house, but there wasn't anything. Now we only have one suspect and I haven't mentioned it to Hank. It's Juliette's sister. Who is now a Grimm."

"Awkward," Monroe said.

"Tell me about it. I don't know how much longer I can keep a lid on a lead. I'm trying to follow up on it as much as I can on my own, but there's not much I can do without Hank knowing about it."

Juliette inhaled slowly. She needed to hear back from Lacey soon, hoping that her sister would tell her she was in North Dakota, or somewhere else very far away. However, the twisting in Juliette's gut was telling her something completely different.

She may have not been the one to be a Grimm, but her parents listened when she had a bad feeling about something. Her intuition had saved them more than once. She just hoped it was wrong this time.

"Juliette," Nick said, walking into the kitchen. "This is Monroe."

She looked up from the salad and took a good look at Monroe, trying to let her gut tell her if she could trust him. He wore a plaid shirt tucked into jeans that didn't fit quite right and he smiled at her with kind eyes. She stared for only a moment longer than was polite, and smiled. "Hi, Monroe. It's nice to meet you." 

"It's good to meet you, too," he said. "I've heard a lot about you. All good things. Oh, here." He held out a bottle of wine.

"Thank you," Juliette said, setting down the knife and taking the bottle. "This is perfect. I just need to finish this salad and we'll be ready to eat. Nick, you want to open this?"

After the wine was open and the salad was ready, they sat down around the dining room table. Juliette sat at the end, with Nick on one side and Monroe on the other. They ate in silence until Juliette cleared her throat.

"We might as well talk about the reason we're here. There's really no secrets we're keeping from each other. We all know what we are." She smiled at Monroe. "I'm really glad you've been there for Nick."

"Who wouldn't want to help a newbie Grimm?" Monroe asked. "He didn't know anything."

Nick set down his fork. "Hey, now. I wasn't totally helpless. I still carried a gun."

"Not helpless. Just... uneducated."

"Well, now I've got two of you to back me up," Nick said. "Juliette apparently knows a lot about Wesen, too."

She laughed. "Like I told you, Nick, it's all theoretical for me. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Blutbad and a Fuchsbau. They'd all look human to me. Though I did learn a lot about fighting and combat, but I haven't done that stuff in years. And I never did it against Wesen. It was all about training for my sister."

"But that explains how you two tag teamed a Siegbarste out of your house," Monroe said, pointing at her.

"Stark was a Siegbarste? That... if I'd known that, I probably would have been a little bit more afraid." Juliette reached for her wine glass. Stark had only gone after Nick to get to Hank; it hadn't occurred to her that he might be Wesen. "Maybe not knowing was better for me."

"Well, it's too late for that now," Nick said. He reached over and rested his hand atop hers. "But if we're going to talk shop, can we discuss Kieshaut?"

"You're dealing with Kieshaut? What are they doing up here?" Monroe asked. "They're all over the southwest, but it's way too wet and cold here, what being cold-blooded and all."

Nick nodded. "That's what I wanted to talk about. My murder victim was a Kieshaut. What was he even doing here? It's not like they were on vacation. He'd lived here for almost a year, they rented a house. Both he and wife had steady jobs."

"Did you talk to his family?" Juliette asked.

"The wife was at church with their two sons. She might be human. She was pretty upset, and I didn't see anything, but it's not an exact science. Bane didn't go with them, and he ended up dead. There has to be a lesson in there somewhere. She found the body when she came home. They don't have any other family in the area."

"This whole thing is really weird," Monroe said. "Kieshaut in Portland, and no other family around? That's not like them at all. And to be married to a human? They're not one to mingle with other species."

"If there's any family anywhere, they're going to be after the killer as much as you for their Rache-Angebot," Juliette said. 

"The what?" Nick asked.

"It's basically ritual torture before they feast to avenge the killer of their blood."

"And those guys are obsessed with the bloodline," Monroe said with a nod. 

"Why do you think Bane went after my family?" Juliette asked "Daddy killed some of his family, and he came after us. Once they get their teeth into something, they don't let go until the job is done."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Monroe said, holding up his hands. "Your murder victim is the same guy who killed _your_ father? That explains why the sister's a suspect." He paused, his eyes going wide. "Was I not supposed to talk about that?"

"I know she's a suspect," she replied. "I know I think she is. I don't know if she did it, but it's a real possibility. It just depends on whether or not she's been in the area."

Monroe stuck his fork in his fettuccine. "Well, this Kieshaut is one weird dude if he's living here with no other family around. Maybe he turned over a new leaf. Left the clan and went to a location he knew they wouldn't want to go. It's not easy leave, but it can be done."

Heat prickled across Juliette's skin. "That doesn't mean he's not a murderer," she said, far sharper than she had intended.

He looked up at her, staring for a moment. "We've all done things we're not proud of," he said, his voice steady.

Nick squeezed Juliette's hand, and she turned to him. He gave her a pleading look, and she forced a smile. If he wanted her to be nice, she could be nice. 

"You're right," she said stiffly. "We all have."

The dinnertime conversation quickly shifted into more casual small talk. Monroe talked quite passionately about clocks, then Juliette told a funny story from work, and the tension slowly eased away.

"Thank you for the meal," Monroe said after dinner was over. "It was great meeting you."

"You too," Juliette replied, shaking his hand. "And thank you again, for the wine."

She and Nick stood on the porch, watching as Monroe walked out to his bright yellow Beetle.

Nick slid his arm around her waist. "So, what'd you think? Honestly."

"Honestly... he seems very nice," Juliette replied. "I admit that he was nothing like the Blutbaden I've read about."

"It's still so weird," Nick said, shaking his head, "hearing you talk about Blutbaden. It's like my worlds are colliding. I'd wanted to tell you, but I never thought we'd be talking about it like it was normal."

She laughed and squeezed him. "For me, it is normal. This is how I grew up. The little Silverton army. This, all of this," she said, motioning around the front yard, "is the weird for me. It's been more than a decade, and still, sometimes, I feel like it's all going to disappear and I'll be back in that RV."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I won't let it disappear. You can count on that."

Juliette smiled and leaned against Nick's body as they watched Monroe pull away from the curb.


	4. Chapter 4

Juliette called in sick to work. It wasn't something she did very often when she wasn't actually sick. She didn't like lying, and she loved her job. However, she still hadn't heard from Lacey, and her stomach was twisting into horrible knots. She wouldn't have been able to focus at work, and she wouldn't put innocent animals at risk of her own carelessness.

That's what she told herself, anyway as she piled oatmeal cookies onto a plate and covered them with tinfoil.

She pulled on her coat and hat and headed out the door with the plate. She set it in the basket on her bike and headed out onto the road. She knew from the night before that Monroe worked from home, and Nick had mentioned in passing which street he lived on. She wasn't sure how hard it would be pick out his house.

She rode slowly down the road. With the park to her right, she only had to watch the houses on her left. She almost went past it, but did a double take, stopping suddenly in front of one of the houses.

It couldn't be that easy, could it?

The house looked like any of the others on the street, but the stained glass in the door -- it was unmistakably the Seal of Bladenrufe.

Juliette got off her bike and walked it up the driveway. She set the kickstand and removed the cookies from the basket. So, bringing cookies by might not be the most subtle of excuses, but she wasn't relying on subtlety.

She knocked on the door and held the plate close to her chest while she waited. She tried to concentrate on her breathing. She didn't want to seem too overeager.

Monroe opened the door with wide, surprised eyes. "Juliette. What are you doing here?"

"I brought cookies," she said, holding out the plate. "I hope you like oatmeal."

"I do, thank you," Monroe replied bemusedly, taking the plate from her. One eye narrowed as he looked at her. "How did you know where I lived?"

Juliette pointed to the stained glass. "Bladenrufe. Did you do it yourself? It's beautiful."

"I should have know it was going to get me in trouble someday. Come on in." He motioned into the house with his head, and she stepped inside. "And, yeah, I did it myself. I took a class a few years ago. I made a few things, but that one was my favorite. I thought I'd display it."

She was listening, but only just. She looked around the house as she followed Monroe into the kitchen. His walls and shelves were decorated with clocks and other knick-knacks. Some were antiques, and others were clearly childhood toys. It all looked... normal.

"So," Monroe said, leaning against the kitchen counter after he'd set the plate down, "what are you really doing here? It's not to bring me cookies at eleven AM, I know that."

"I hope you still enjoy them," Juliette replied. She pulled off her hat and shoved it in her coat pocket. "They're sort of a peace offering mixed in with a bribe."

"If you want to bribe me, you're going to have to do better cookies," he said with a laugh. "Do you want a cup of coffee? I was just about to make a fresh pot."

She smiled. "That sounds great. Thank you."

Monroe pushed away from the counter and went to the coffee maker and started filling a filter with grounds from a small bag. "Now, what is it you want to bribe me to do?"

"I know you don't have any reason to, but I'd like it if you'd help me find my sister," Juliette said. The words sounded ridiculous as she said them, asking a Blutbad to help her find a Grimm. But he helped Nick all the time, so that had to count for something. "I haven't heard from her and I have a really bad feeling about it."

"She's a suspect in a murder; I don't blame you for having a bad feeling."

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "It's not... this is going to sound crazy, but I sometimes get some vibes about things. Situations. It's more than good judgment or common sense."

"Hey, I'm not going to call anyone crazy," Monroe replied, holding up his hands for a moment in an gesture of surrender. "I'm not really into the mysticism stuff, but if you are, that's cool. I don't judge."

"It's not mysticism, it just intuition," Juliette said. "I think Lacey killed Bane and his bloodline came after her."

Monroe turned on the coffee maker and turned around. "I don't know about that. It sounds like Bane cut himself off from the clan. Who would have gone after her? His kids? That's a learned trait, it's not instinctive. They do it because of tradition. If he started over, he wouldn't have taught that to the kids."

"I don't know who, but I'm going to find out. The least I can do is try. If my sister is in trouble, I have to do something to save her. And I can't do it alone."

"Why don't you just ask Nick? Your boyfriend? Who's a cop? And a Grimm?"

Starting to feel warm, Juliette began unbuttoning her coat. "I can't ask Nick to help with this. I could, but he'd want to protect me, and for him that would mean doing it himself. For this, I don't need protection. I just need someone who'll be able to spot a Kieshaut on sight. Or on scent."

"Oh, so that's it. You just need a nose. Don't you think that if Nick wouldn't want you to be part of this, maybe you shouldn't be?" Monroe walked across the kitchen to grab a couple of mugs. "If he's looking for your sister, he'll find her."

"He's not looking for her. He's investigating the murder, not a possible kidnapping. If she was taken by a Kieshaut, she's probably still alive. The Rache-Angebot can last for days."

"They do like to play with their food," Monroe agreed. He heaved a sigh. "Nick's going to be really pissed if he finds out that I helped you. And if we find your sister, he's going to find out."

Juliette shook her head. "He won't be that mad, as long as we find her and get out of there safely. And if we find her, we've solved the murder."

"And then your sister goes to jail."

"No, she won't," Juliette replied. She bit her lip and stuck her hands in her coat pockets, though they were already sweaty and warm.

Monroe threw his hands in the air. "And that's really illegal! You can't just let a murderer go without consequences. If anyone found out, we'd all go to jail!"

"She's better as a fugitive than in prison. It's not like she's exactly settled down as it is. Please, Monroe? I'll owe you one."

He laughed humorlessly. "No, you'll owe me about ten. And not little favors. Not cookie favors. I'm talking big favors. I don't even know if you could hold up your end of how huge those favors would have to be. Why would I even want to help a Grimm?"

"You help Nick," Juliette said with a shrug.

"I know Nick."

"Okay, Monroe, that's fine." She pulled her hands from her pockets and started buttoning her coat up again. "I'll do it on my own. And if something happens to me, you can explain to Nick how you knew I was going to do this and did nothing to protect me. Nick's really big on that protection thing."

"I could just tell him now," Monroe pointed out.

She dropped her shoulders. Please don't. Please help me. I will owe you ten. And cookies."

He lowered his head defeatedly for a moment, then lifted his face slowly. "You're going to do this no matter what, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Fine, fine. What's your big plan?" Monroe picked up the pot and poured coffee for them both. "Cream?"

Juliette nodded. "Yes, thank you. And I don't really have a big plan. Or any plan. I just thought we could go over to Nolan Bane's house and see if there's anything weird going on."

"Yeah, a guy was murdered there two days ago. What's _not_ weird about that?" He handed her a mug and they moved over to the table. "I don't see what you need me for."

"Just back-up," she replied. 

Monroe held his mug up, about to take a sip. "I am somehow not reassured. But if it's just stakeout, you'll owe me one. If it's anything more than that, it's ten. And cookies if they're any good."

Juliette grinned. "It's a deal."


	5. Chapter 5

"Turn left here," Juliette said, glancing up from the map on her phone. "It should be the third house on the right."

"You know, we could have taken your car," Monroe said as he turned onto the narrow residential street, lined with cars parked along both curbs. "Whatever you drive would have been less conspicuous."

She shook her head. "It's fine. Someone will either notice us or they won't. It doesn't matter what kind of car you're in. People sitting in a car, especially on a street like this are going at attract attention no matter what."

"Is that some fancy police information you've picked up? Look for a place to park, will you?"

Juliette looked out the window as they passed the house. It was large and rather old, kind of like her and Nick's home. There were two cars in the driveway and the lights were on in the front window. Someone was home. One of the cars had to belong to Nolan Bane, and the other was surely his wife's, Eleanor.

"You'd think it'd be easier to find a parking space at this time of day," Monroe said. "Unless they're already having a wake."

"Not until tomorrow. I looked it up on the paper on the way here." Juliette held up her phone. "At the house for family and friends, then a service on Thursday. Though what family, I don't know. They probably won't have a real funeral until the police are done with the body."

"That's kind of sad," Monroe said when they reached the end of the street. "Around the block and try again?"

"Yeah, maybe we'll get -- stop, stop!"

He hit the brakes just as quickly as he'd released them, the car jerking forward, and their seatbelts caught. "What? What is it?"

Juliette stared at the window at a white work van parked on the corner, snug against the stop sign. A yellow ticket was flipping against the windshield, secured by the wiper. "That's Lacey's van. And a classic Lacey parking job."

"How can you tell, other than the fact that she got a parking ticket?" Monroe asked.

"See that dent behind the door? And those scratches? That was from a fight with a--" She paused and looked over at Monroe apologetically. "Well, with a Blutbad."

"Who won?"

"Is that really important?" Juliette asked, hoping that was enough to change the subject. "She's here. She's definitely here, and she has to be in that house. Go around the block and see if a spot clears up. Or we can park in front of a hydrant and hope no one notices."

"Hey now," Monroe said, turning onto the next street, "you and your sister may not care about parking tickets, but I do. Unless you're willing to pay it. But if you're like Nick when it comes to paying me back, I'm not taking the chance."

She looked over at him. "How much money does he owe you?"

"Let's not talk about it."

That couldn't be good, but Juliette had it admit she liked it that Monroe was protecting Nick from getting in trouble with his girlfriend. If he cared that much, he was probably good back-up for Nick when it really counted. And good back-up to have with her now.

On the fourth pass down the block, a space had opened up. The front of the house wasn't in view, but if a car pulled out of the drive, they'd be able to see it.

"Now what?" Monroe asked as he removed the keys from the ignition. "We just sit here and wait?"

"That's the plan," Juliette muttered. "When she leaves, we'll go in."

"Breaking and entering, that's fantastic. You'd think, considering your boyfriend is a cop, you'd have a good sense of the law," Monroe replied. "Besides, Eleanor Bane is human. Why would she hold Lacey prisoner? Those are Kieshaut traits. And even if Nick was wrong, and she isn't human? She wouldn't care about her husband. The revenge only comes out against blood relatives."

"If someone killed Nick, I don't know what I'd do. Grieving women aren't really known for being rational."

"That, I can agree with," Monroe said. He looked up at the house for a long moment. "We can't go in there like this. If we get caught, we're going to need weapons, and I don't know about you, but I left my battle axe at home."

"Weapons we have," Juliette replied. "Lacey's van is at the end of the block."

"And she just left it unlocked for anyone to get to her stash of weapons and Grimm memorabilia?"

"Of course not," she said. She shifted to the side and reached into her pocket. She fished around for for a moment and retrieved out her keys. "Assuming she hasn't changed the locks on her car? I have a key."

Monroe blinked at the keychain dangling from her hand. "You mean we could have parked on another street and done the stakeout in her van instead of attracting more attention to ourselves by driving around the block four times?"

Juliette stuffed the keys back into her pocket. "No, because that would have been way too obvious," she replied, feeling foolish. It had been a long time since she'd done this sort of thing. So much for thinking on her feet.

They sat in silence for several minutes until Juliette looked over at Monroe. "Do you think she knew? That he wasn't human? I mean, he could have told her."

"I doubt it," he replied. "It'd be too weird, and who would accept that sort of thing? I know I've made a point to not get involved with humans. It's complicated enough being in a relationship with your own species."

"But it has to be hard, keeping those kinds of secrets. He'd have to explain away why he didn't have contact with his family. And that molting thing they do every year? He'd have to tell her something about the scales in the shower drain."

Monroe raised his eyebrows and gave her a knowing smile. "Are we talking about them or Nick?"

"Them," Juliette said, but she sounded defensive even to her own ears. She sighed. "Or Nick. If I hadn't known what was going on, why we was out for all those late nights, I don't know what I would have thought. And I kept waiting for him to tell me, and he never did. I don't know if he ever even would have."

"Look, Juliette, he wanted to tell you. He even wanted me to come over and wolf out for you so you wouldn't think he was completely out of his gourd. That if, you know, you could see it for yourself, you'd believe him."

She studied him for a moment and carefully asked, "Could you do that? Not now, I mean, but allow me to see your face?"

Monroe raised his eyebrows. "You really want to?"

"Growing up, I knew that we were fighting something. I'd read all the books. I could recite you all the information you wanted to know about Mordstier or Reinigen, but other than the drawings, I had no idea what they looked like. I've never seen a Wesen's true face. When I watched Bane kill my father, I knew he was a Kieshaut, but he just... he looked like a man. Just a man."

"It must have been hard making friends. Wondering they were human or Wesen. How did you even trust Nick long enough to know he wasn't one?"

"Because I knew he was a Grimm. Or that he was going to be." Juliette took a deep breath and stared down at her hands. "After college, I went looking for other Grimm families. I was looking for people like me, who weren't Grimms, but grew up with it. I knew there had to be others. I found Nick instead. He didn't know anything about it, and even though I knew that it wasn't always going to be that way, it was nice."

"So, you knew before he did."

She nodded. "Yeah, I did. And for a while I let myself forget. When Marie died, I knew that was gone too. I mean, it's worth it, being with Nick, Grimm or not, but for a little while we got to be normal."

"Because this is really normal," Monroe said, motioning around the car, and Juliette laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I just kept it separate, and it was easy because Lacey was always on the move, so it made sense that she never met him. But my little brother, Isaac, he lives near Seattle, and my mom moved in with him and his girlfriend after they had a baby last year. Nick and I have been up to visit them. It didn't seem like I was hiding my family. He didn't question it and I could pretend that it was always going to be like that."

"You really hated growing up like that, didn't you?"

She smiled down at her hands. "Is it that obvious?"

"You wanted that normal life so bad. I get that."

Juliette turned away, gazing out the window at nothing in particular. "Is that why you're... vegetarian?" she asked, her breath fogging up the glass. "To be normal?"

A light rain began to fall, and the _tap, tap, tap_ against the metal roof was the only sound in the car. She looked over at him, and Monroe had his hands around the steering wheel, staring straight ahead.

"Was that too personal?" she asked. "I'm sorry."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'm trying to figure out how answer. It's not that I wanted to be human. There's a whole Blutbad culture that I love. There are parts of it that I wouldn't give up for anything. But then there's the violence and the killing. I mean, most of the killing was, you know, rabbits and deer, but there's a frenzy about it and you can't do anything but succumb to it. And that's why I gave it up. I didn't want to be out of control."

Juliette nodded, pressing her lips together. "It may sound weird, but I understand. Daddy always had a way about him when it came to hunting. He was dangerous and sometimes he scared me so much. I remember watching him just beat the crap out of his one guy. He could have just killed him, but he didn't. It was like he wanted to cause the most pain possible. He kept hitting him and the sound was... it was terrible."

"Ah," Monroe said. "So your dad was one of _those_ Grimms."

"The monster outside your window kind? Yeah. And Lacey's not much better. She's a little bit more subtle, but our family doesn't have that compassion the way Nick does."

"You seem to."

Juliette smiled, and opened her mouth to respond, but Monroe cut her off.

"Check it out," he said, nodding toward the street. "That's her car, right?"

"Yeah, it is," she replied as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's get some weapons and get in there."

Monroe rested a hand on her arm. "Wait. Maybe this is should be the part where we tell Nick. Before we start breaking laws."

"And that's the part where we have to wait for him to get a warrant, and based on what? My gut feeling? No judge would allow a warrant on a grieving family's home without a good reason. It'll be easier to get in there, get her, and get out."

"In a perfect world where nothing goes wrong, yeah that seems like a logical plan, but do you really think that's actually going to happen?"

She blinked at him, knowing he had a very rational point, but that wasn't going to stop her. "Probably not, no, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. You don't have to take it with me if you don't want to. Like you said, Bane's cut himself off from the clan. There's probably no one in there. I can get Lacey and we can go back to the house in her van."

Monroe hesitated, then rolled his eyes with a groan. "If something happens and Nick finds out I could have helped you, I don't know how he'd react. I don't think grieving Grimms are very rational either."

"Then let's do this." Juliette opened the door and started down the sidewalk toward the van. She glanced over her shoulder, and Monroe was right behind her, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his grey cardigan as he looked around, maybe checking to see if they were being watched.

They stepped off the curb behind the van, and Juliette pulled her keys from her pocket again. "I know it's one of these," she muttered.

"Hey, what are the odds that Lacey has Oregon plates?" Monroe asked. "Is she based here because of you?"

"What?" Juliette looked away from the keys to inspect the license plates. "Oh, no, they're fake. I mean, they're registered somewhere, but not in her name. She has plates from a bunch of different states and she puts them on whenever she's going to be some place for longer than a day or two."

"What's the point?"

She shrugged and started going through the keys again. "Think about it. This street was crawling with cops on Sunday after Bane died. If they saw a car that looked out of the place, maybe out of town plates, they might look twice. State plates blend in -- I think this it." She pushed a key into the door in the back of the work van and turned it. She grinned when the lock popped up, and she pulled open the doors.

"Whoa," Monroe said peering into the van. "Do you think there was a struggle in there, too?"

"That's just Lacey," Juliette replied, shaking her head. The inside of the van was a total wreck, with books and weapons strewn around haphazardly in a mix with fast food bags and balled up Hostess cake wrappers. A sleeping bag lay crumpled in the corner next to a blue plastic cooler and a broadsword.

"That looks safe," Monroe commented, his eyes on the sword.

Juliette chuckled as she climbed into the van. She started wading through the trash and books, to see what was under the next layer of stuff. "I haven't these things in so long. Not since the last time I saw Lacey, and that was... had to be five years ago."

She picked a stack of books off the top of a wooden weapons chest. The old leather book covers familiar under her fingers. She could see herself as a child, flipping through the pages, fascinated by the drawings of the amazing creatures, before she fully understood that she'd never see them. That this life wasn't going to be her path.

She remembered the last time she had seen Lacey, exactly. It was before she had met Nick, and was still getting her veterinary license. Lacey had been in town for some job, and they'd met up for a cup of coffee. Almost like they were normal sisters, doing something totally average.

_"I can't believe you're becoming a vet," Lacey said with a laugh. "That's so..."_

_"What regular people do?" Juliette asked, cupping her hands around the hot paper cup. "You know I always liked animals. I always wanted a dog, and I can't even have one now in my apartment."_

_"Well, screw your apartment." Lacey leaned forward and whispered, "Come with me on the road."_

_Juliette laughed. "What? I don't want to go on the road. I want to settle down and maybe start a family someday. I want to be normal. That's all I ever wanted."_

_"But that's not who you are, Jules. You were never normal. None of us are normal. You have some serious skills and if you came with me, you'd be able to use them. For all the talk growing up about my destiny, did you ever consider yours? Do you really think being a vet is what you're supposed to do?"_

_"I think it's what I choose to do," Juliette said. "Growing up was about you. Is it so wrong to want to make my life about me?"_

_Lacey sat back in her chair. "No, it's not. You're right. But when you're ready, it'll find you. Count on it."_

Juliette opened up the chest, and it was just as disorganized as the rest of the van. She dug through it carefully, avoiding all the sharpened blades she could and pulled out a dagger with a bronze hilt. "Here you go," she said, holding it out Monroe.

"That's it?" he asked. "I couldn't get something a little bit more substantial?"

"Do you want to carry a sword down the suburban street?" she asked. "I know that won't be obvious. People definitely won't call the cops."

"Touché," Monroe replied and took the dagger, hastily shoving it in his back pocket. "Please tell me this thing hasn't killed any members of my family."

"I can't make any promises," Juliette replied. She selected a sturdy hatchet and hide it in the inside pocket of her coat. She hopped out of the back of the van and slammed the doors shut. "Let's do it."


	6. Chapter 6

Juliette led Monroe around the back of the house, pushing open the wooden gate in the side yard. "It's a little less obvious than standing on someone's front porch, trying to open their locks," she said. "And sometimes back door locks aren't as secure and are easier to pick."

"Are you some kind of robbery expert?" Monroe asked. "Does Nick know about this?"

"It doesn't pay to be a professional Grimm when that's all you do," she replied. "We took what we needed when we needed it. I haven't done this in ten years, but I still remember how it's done." She started for the back door, but Monroe grabbed her arm.

"I think that's what we want," he said, motioning to the corner of the house, at the black, bulkhead basement doors.

"Bingo," Juliette said. She went over to the doors and squatted in front of them, inspecting the heavy combination lock that held them closed. She sighed and pulled the hatchet from her pocket. "If it were a padlock, I could pick it, but we'll have to bust this."

Monroe held out his hand. "Let me."

She raised her eyebrows at him as she stood. "You think I can't do it because I'm a girl?"

"I think you can't do it because you're a human," he replied.

She blinked and handed the hatchet over. "Fair enough."

Monroe swung the hatchet down onto the lock. There was a crack and a spark, but the cut in the lock only went about halfway through. He growled with frustration, and that was when Juliette saw it: his face transformed, his eyes going red and his teeth were suddenly razor sharp. His fingernails grew into pointed claws as he brought the hatchet down on the lock once again. There was another crack, and the lock fell apart, hanging off one of the handles.

Juliette stared at him even after his face appeared human once again, her heart pounding in her chest. He seemed so sweet. It was ridiculous, because she knew what he was. Seeing his face didn't change anything she knew about him, but she hadn't expected him to look so feroucious. Seeing the real thing was so much more than she'd ever imagined from the drawings in the books.

He held the hatchet out to her. "Did you see it?" he asked.

She nodded and took the hatchet from him. "I did."

"Are we good?" he asked. He sounded almost anxious, like he was worried about what she thought of him. Of course he might. He was friends with Nick, and clearly that meant something to him. It wouldn't go far if the girlfriend didn't like him too.

"We are," Juliette replied with a smile. She leaned down to pull the broken lock off the door handle. "Thank you," she said. "For letting me see."

Monroe smiled too as he pulled the door open. "No problem." he looked down into the dark basement. "Well, that looks ominous. Ladies first."

She snorted and held the hatchet in one hand and her phone, lighting the way, in the other as she started down the concrete steps. They were wet and slick under her feet, and she was glad she'd thought to put on practical shoes with a rubber sole.

It wasn't any lighter when she reached the bottom of the stairs, so she felt along the way for a switch, but the walls were cold concrete blocks. She tried above her head until her fingers brushed against a metal chain. She pulled on it, and the room became illuminated by a single bulb.

"Lacey!" Juliette shoved her phone in her pocket and sprinted toward the center of the room where her sister was bound to a chair by thick ropes around her ankles and hands. Her head hung down, but she was breathing, albeit shallowly. Blood was caked in her white-blonde hair and her face was mottled with bruising. Her tank top had probably once been white, but now it was strained brown with blood and dirt, and her arms were covered with messy looking scabs spelling out words in a language Juliette couldn't read.

Juliette dropped the hatchet on the floor and carefully cradled Lacey's face in her hands. "Oh, honey, what'd they do to you?"

"This isn't good," Monroe said as he approached them. He tilted his head and brushed back Lacey's hair. "Juliette, check this out. I think this explains how they captured her. Or at least how they got her before she got any more of them."

She stood up and looked at where Monroe was motioning. There were four nasty looking puncture marks on Lacey's neck. "We have to get her out of here. You can carry her, right?"

"Yeah, no problem," he replied. "We have to get out of these ropes first. I've never been very good with knots. It was my downfall in scouts."

Juliette reached around him and pulled the dagger from the back pocket of his jeans. "Or we can use this."

"Right. Or that."

She knelt next to Lacey again and started cutting through the rope. The blade was sharp, but it was a slow process with a rope that thick. Each section of twine was braided and twisted within itself, and it became harder as she dug the knife into the fraying ends.

"Move over," Monroe said, nudging Juliette with his knee. "I think this might work even better."

She looked up, and he was holding a pair of hedge clippers with both hands. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

He motioned to the far wall with his head. "From the wall of crazy."

Juliette turned and her breath caught in her chest. The entire length of the wall was lined with weaponry. It started with swords and daggers, but went down the line to mornings stars and maces, to modern items, like the clippers and chainsaws. She tried to ignore how many of them were splattered with blood.

"Maybe he wasn't cut off from the clan," Monroe said as he carefully slid one of the blades between Lacey's leg and the rope. "At least not for the reasons I thought. This is seriously messed up. Maybe these Kieshaut were too viscious for the family. And that saying something."

It was perhaps Monroe's Blutbad strength, or the quality of the clippers, but he snipped through the rope with ease. He moved to the other side of the chair and started work on the rope around her other ankle.

Lacey stirred, lifting her head, but her eyes stayed closed as she slurred something indecipherable.

Juliette dropped next to her sister once again and cupped Lacey's cheek with her hand. "Hey, Lacey? Lacey?"

Lacey moaned, and she slowly she opened one eye, the other swollen shut. She blinked a couple of times before she really seemed to focus. "Jules?" she asked, her chapped lips barely moving.

"Yeah, honey, it's me." Juliette smiled and tried to hold back tears of pure relief. "We're going to get you out of here, okay?"

"How'd you find..." Lacey dropped her head again, her eye drooping shut. She mumbled something, but Juliette couldn't make out what it was.

Juliette gently stroked Lacey's hair. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything." She looked up at Monroe, who had moved around to the back of the chair. "How close are we?"

"This is the last one," Monroe replied as he worked the clippers' blade into the rope around Lacey's hands. "You may want to be ready to grab her. This is probably the only thing holding her up."

"Right, yeah," Juliette's mind was buzzing. For as calm and focused as she'd been all day, she suddenly wanted to get out of there. She wrapped her arm around Lacey's waist. "We need to hurry."

Monroe glanced down at her. "Are you getting one of those bad feelings? Because you're making me a believer."

She nodded. "Just... hurry, okay?"

"Going as fast as I can," he replied and there was a snap as the ropes were cut. He leaned down and started pulling them away from Lacey's wrists, and as he'd predicted, her body started to drop off to the side.

"I got her, I got her," Juliette said. She swung around to the front of Lacey's body and held her steady. "Monroe, can you grab her?"

He tossed the clippers aside and easily scooped Lacey into his arms, as though she were a doll and not a human being. He glanced back at the clippers and said, "I just realized my fingerprints are all over those now."

"What is she going to say to the cops? Someone broke into my house and stole the woman I was holding prisoner? Let's go!"

They started back up the stairs, Monroe first, but he stopped suddenly. "We may have a problem," he said.

Juliette peered around him and her eyes went wide. A woman in a black business suit and a heavy coat stood at the top of the stairs, holding a sword, pointing the tip into Monroe's chest.

"Back into the basement," she said, her voice calm and steady.

As they backed down the stairs, Monroe glanced over his shoulder at Juliette and muttered, "Do you think now's a good time to call Nick?"


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell do you think you're doing in my house?" the woman -- Eleanor Bane -- asked. She guided them against a wall, but unfortunately, not the one full of weaponry.

"We just want the girl," Monroe said, Lacey still cradled in his arms. "We weren't going to tell anyone about the kidnapping or the torture. She just has a very worried family."

While Monroe talked, Juliette slipped her hand into her pocket. She wrapped her hand around her phone and tried to remember where all the buttons were on the touch screen to get to the speed dial. Nick's number was the first one, and she really hoped that's the one she called when she hit the button. It all felt like flat screen to her fingers.

" _She_ has a worried family?" Eleanor repeated back at them. "I don't care about her _family_. That girl murdered my husband! She killed him and I have to do what's right by the bloodline!"

"I thought she was human," Juliette said, not taking her eyes off the sword.

Monroe shifted, knocking into her. "She is definitely _not_ human."

Eleanor swung the sword around wildly, and both Juliette and Monroe took a step back, but they couldn't go any further, backed against the wall. "Stop talking! You thought you could get away with it, but I have nosy neighbors who called me when they saw intruders breaking into my house. If you're protecting her, you're just as bad as she is."

"Mom?" called a voice from upstairs. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, boys. Just caught a couple of robbers trying to steal our Rache-Angebot. Go to your room. It'll be over in a minute."

Juliette's mind scrambled to remember everything she could about her training growing up. Think on your feet. Use your resources. What were her resources?

Not much, but she had the element of surprise, as long as she made the right move, and a wall of weaponry on the other side of the room.

"Look," Juliette said, holding up both of her hands in surrender, "we don't want any trouble."

"You're already in trouble," Eleanor replied, pointing the tip of the sword in Juliette's direction. "You're going to die. Slowly. Just like her. I have to set an example for my boys. They have to know their father is being avenged, like any Kieshaut would be."

"He's not your bloodline," Monroe said. He shifted Lacey in his arms. "You're really going to kill this woman, and us, for something that isn't yours."

Eleanor swiveled around and shoved the sword in his face. "My husband lost his family because they were weak. They said the Rache-Angebot was outdated and we should mourn like humans, but he knew the truth. I'm doing right by him, in the old ways. I have to maintain the legacy for our children, now that he's gone."

With Eleanor's attention on Monroe, Juliette slowly edged away. If she was going to get across the room, she had to have as big of a head start as she possibly could before Eleanor noticed her.

"You've tortured her," Monroe said. "Look at her, she's practically dead already. Haven't you done enough?"

Juliette silently urged Monroe to keep talking. She continued to inch down the wall, trying to get as far from the range of Eleanor's sword. Drawing a slow breath, trying to calm her pounding heart, Juliette leaned against the wall and pushed off from it, making a run for the other side of room.

"No!" Eleanor barked, swinging the sword around.

Juliette heard the fabric on her coat rip before she felt the pain searing in her arm. She stretched both arms forward and grabbed the first thing off the wall that her hands wrapped around, coming away with a mace. It had a thin wooden handle, but the metal head was large and covered with with short, sharp spikes. It was heavy, but she remembered using one before, a lifetime ago.

"Are you going to fight me?" Eleanor asked as they started circling one another around the basement. "It doesn't end, you know. You kill me, and my boys will come after you. They won't wait until they're older, they'll start now and they'll never stop."

"I don't want to hurt you," Juliette said, surprised at how calm her voice sounded. "I just want to take my sister -- _my_ blood -- and leave. No one else has to die."

Eleanor glanced at Monroe and Lacey, then turned her attention back to Juliette. "Someone always has to die."

"They don't have to today," Juliette said. She readjusted her grip on the mace. "I really don't want to hurt you. Your family's been through enough."

"Yes, they have," Eleanor replied evenly. She brandished the sword, swinging it at Juliette's throat.

Juliette dropped to the floor and rolled forward, ramming the mace into Eleanor's shin. Eleanor screamed and fell hard onto the concrete. The sword clattered against the hard surface and slid across the floor. Eleanor wailed and curled over on herself, cradling her bleeding leg between her hands.

"Juliette?"

Relief spread through her body. Her phone call had gone through. "Nick!" she called. "In the basement!"

Above them, there was the sound of running and the the door hit the wall with a bang as he threw it open and thundered down the stairs. He had his gun drawn, his eyes widened as he holstered his weapon, and then helped her to her feet. "Are you okay? You're bleeding."

"I'm fine," she replied. "But Lacey -- she needs to go to a hospital."

Nick turned and saw Lacey held limply in Monroe's arms. "I'll call an ambulance." He holstered his gun and pulled out his phone. He nodded to Elanor and asked, "What happened?"

"She was going to kill us," Monroe said. "Probably would have if Juliette hadn't done that to her. You should arrest her."

Juliette grabbed Nick around the arm. "Nick, if you arrest her, you'll have to arrest Lacey too. Lacey's the only reason we're here. It's not like we don't know why Eleanor Bane was holding her down here. She's Kieshaut."

"Why shouldn't I arrest her?" Nick snapped. "Your sister is the murderer I'm looking for. It's my job."

"And being a Grimm is your birthright," she replied, squeezing his arm. "What you do as a Grimm is more important than your job."

As Nick stared into Juliette's eyes, she'd never felt more diconnected from him. His eyes were cold, like they were strangers.

"Nick, we've got to do something," Monroe said. "She really needs a doctor."

Nick hesitated another second, then tore his gaze away from Juliette. He went over to Eleanor and crouched down next to her.

"You know who I am?" he asked. "Can you see who I am?"

Eleanor opened her eyes, tears still streaming down her face. "Grimm," she said, hatred in her voice, even through the pain.

"That's right. You attacked my girlfriend, her sister, and my friend. You know what I could do to you, but I won't. I'm going to tell you what to do, and you're going to do it, you understand?"

She nodded.

"Good. You're going to leave today. Run now with your boys, and change your name. You've done it before. When you run, the police are going to assume you killed your husband. Don't let them find you. If you come back to Portland, I'll know. Are we clear?"

She nodded again.

Nick stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Let's get out of here."

"Nick," Juliette said, but he turned away and passed her without a word.


	8. Chapter 8

The heart monitor beeped, reassuringly steady. Juliette sat down on the edge of Lacey's bed and took her hand. It had been a day, and according to the doctors, Lacey was recovering at an impressively fast rate. One of the beneficial side effects of being a Grimm.

"Hey, honey," Juliette said, gently shaking Lacey's hand.

Lacey's eyes fluttered open. "Hey, Jules."

Juliette grinned and reached up to brush Lacey's hair away from her face, carefully avoiding the gauze taped to her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Woozy," she replied. "Every time I wake up, everything has this fuzz around it. But I'm a lot more interested in how you found me."

"It wasn't that hard," Juliette said. "When I found out that that Eric Dumaine had been killed, and I had a feeling it was you. You should have told me you were in town."

"I couldn't," Lacey said. "I'd been hunting that bastard for years. He kept skipping town on me, changing his name, and leaving a trail of bodies behind. I had to strike when the iron was hot. Just like Daddy always said."

Juliette smiled. "I'm just glad you're okay. I had such a bad feeling about everything."

"You and your feelings. I could use those on the road, you know. The offer still stands. I know you hated growing up in the RV, and that everything was about me, but my offer still stands. You could come with me. I'd love to have you backing me up. Silverton sisters on the road. Just like the old days."

Juliette sighed and squeezed her sister's hand. "I did hate growing up in that RV. You knew what you were supposed to do and I felt like Isaac and I were just tag-a-longs. But that intuition of mine came from somewhere, and it has a purpose. And now _I_ know what I'm supposed to do."

"So, come with me," Lacey said.

"I have a life here. My boyfriend--"

"Is just a boyfriend."

"He's a Grimm."

Lacey stared. "You're kidding me."

Juliette shook her head. "No, I'm not. And you were right, Lacey. My path was going to find me, and I think I'm supposed to help a Grimm on _their_ path. My intuition, my knowledge, the training Daddy put us through, it was everything I needed to prepare me. But I think Nick's the one I'm supposed to help. He didn't have anyone teaching him this stuff, and now he has two people, and I get to be one of them. That's what I'm supposed to do."

"And what am I supposed to?" Lacey asked.

"What you've been doing. You know what you're destiny is, Lacey. But maybe after this you could head up to Seattle and see Isaac and mom. And your nephew. He has a big future ahead of him, and he's going to need you to help him."

Lacey blinked a few times, maybe holding back tears. She had never been one for showing weakness or emotion, but she had them. "That sounds like a good idea," she said.

Juliette leaned forward and kissed Lacey on the forehead. "Rest, will you? I'll be back tomorrow,"

"Bring your boyfriend," Lacey replied with a grin. "I'd love to meet him."

"I'm not going to bring him by just so you guys can talk shop, but I'll see what I can do." Juliette squeezed Lacey's hand again and then left the room.

When she got home, Monroe was sitting on the front porch. She got out of the car and walked over to him. "Hey," she said with a smile. "I don't know when Nick's going to be home, but come on in."

Monroe stood up and dusted off the back of his jeans. "I wanted to know how your sister was doing. I thought about going to the hospital, but if you weren't there, I didn't want to be alone in a room with a Grimm who doesn't know me. Seemed like that could get messy."

"Probably," Juliette said, chuckling. She pulled her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door. "Would you like some tea?"

"That sounds great," Monroe replied, and followed her inside. 

"Lacey's doing well," Juliette said as she filled the kettle with water. "There was a lot of damage, but Grimms have an uncanny ability to heal quickly."

"And you?" Monroe asked. "How's your arm?"

She turned and faced him. "Oh, it's fine. A few stitches and a couple of painkillers. I'll live. I'm really glad you came over. I didn't get a chance to thank you yesterday."

He shrugged. "It's nothing. You owe me a lot of favors, and now that I've eaten some of those cookies you brought over, I may call in a cookie favor too."

She smiled and set the kettle on the burner and turned on the burner. "I can do that."

Monroe tilted his head and studied Juliette for a moment. "Are you okay?"

Juliette sighed and leaned against the counter, staring into the flame from the gas stove. "Nick's still... he's angry. He compromised himself as a cop yesterday. He'd never done that before, and I'm the one who asked him to do it. He's so cold right now, and he's never like that." She looked up at Monroe and shook her head. "He doesn't know how important it is. I don't understand how Marie could have raised him from the time he was twelve and didn't tell him any of it."

"Maybe she wanted him to have a normal life for as long as he could," Monroe said. "You hated growing up like you did. Would you have really wanted that for him?"

"No, Juliette admitted. "And I know it gives him perspective and he has the ability to see the good in people that I know Lacey can't from how we were raised, but he doesn't realize that he did the right thing yesterday. It's so much bigger than him or Lacey, or any one Wesen. There's so much more to it than that, and he doesn't even know. And now I know it's up to me to tell him, but he's not ready."

"When do you think he will be?" Monroe asked as the kettle began to whistle.

She pushed off from the counter and pulled the kettle from the burner. "I don't know. Maybe when he stops being so angry, or maybe when he learns more. I think I'll know when the time is right."

"That's good. That's great," Monroe said. He fiddled with one of the buttons on his cardigan. "I guess now that you and Nick know that you know, I won't be around as much. Until I cash in those favors."

Juliette looked up from where she was pouring the hot water into mugs. "Is that why you're really here? To see if Nick still needs you? It's a simple answer, Monroe: he does. A girlfriend is never a replacement for a good friend, and you are a great friend. It's not like I know everything. You can see other Wesen, smell them. You can help him in ways I can't."

Monroe smiled as he took the mug. "Good. I got my ass handed to me because, well, it's not exactly a secret that I've been helping Nick. It's worth it, because you're right. It's bigger than all of this. If I have to pick a side..."

She held up her mug. "We're glad to have you."

He tapped his mug to hers. "I'm glad to be here."

 

 

When Nick came home hours later, Juliette was dozing on the sofa in front of a muted TV. He picked up her feet and sat down at the end, resting her feet in his lap. It was as though nothing was wrong between them.

"Hey, honey," Juliette said, sitting up. It didn't seem wise to ask him how he was, or if everything was okay. She knew how he was. She knew nothing was okay.

"We dropped the case," Nick said. "The plan worked. They took Eleanor's exit as a sign that she was behind it all. And I never mentioned Lacey to anyone. She should be all right."

Juliette scooted forward until she could wrap her arms around his neck. She pressed her lips to his temple and mumbled, "Thank you."

He turned to her, his face somber. "I can't lie like that again. I hated keeping stuff from Hank. He's my partner and I need him to be able to trust me." Nick stared ahead at the television, then sighed. "I hated keeping everything from you, but I can't help wondering why you didn't tell me. You knew when it happened, why it happened, and you never said a word. What are you hiding, Juliette? What didn't you want to tell me?"

"Oh, Nick." She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I thought you'd be the one to tell me, but what I really wanted? I wanted us to be normal. I didn't want to go back to that RV, even metaphorically. I was scared that we'd stop being us, and we'd just be that Grimm couple. But you promised me that wouldn't happen, so I'm not worried anymore."

Nick didn't smile back. "You used me to protect your sister. How do I know you're not going to do that again?"

Juliette's smile faded. "Nick, the longer you do this, you're going to find that being a Grimm doesn't have rules the way being a cop does. At some point, you're going to use your authority to protect yourself."

"So, what? This is is just the first step in my corruption?"

She shook her head. "It's not corruption as long as you're doing it all for the right reasons, and I know you will. You're a good man."

Nick leaned back and rubbed his hands over his face. "I don't want to fight anymore," he said. "I don't want to be mad at you. We're still talking about it, but not like this."

"I appreciate that, because I have something to show you." Juliette took Nick's hand and pulled him off the sofa. She led him into the dining room, and motioned to the stacks of old books on the table. "I got them out of Lacey's van. Since she's going to be in the hospital for a couple of days, she won't miss them."

"Whoa," Nick said, picking up one of the leather-bound books. "I think it'll take me more than a couple of days to get through all of these." He looked up and smiled at her. "Why did you do this?"

"There could be information in here that aren't in your books, and things that you know that aren't in these." Juliette gently took the book from his hands and set it down on top of the nearest stack. She cupped Nick's face in her hands. "These are my family's books, and you are my family."

"I love you," Nick replied. He kissed her, then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

Juliette closed her eyes tightly as she held onto him. She knew it was far from over. In fact, it was just beginning, but at least they were back where they belonged. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, thank you! I appreciate that you've read all the way to the end, and I hope you've enjoyed it.  
> I've been reluctant to create a Wesen species, but it made more sense for this story than getting lots of stuff wrong about an established species, so I thought I'd go for it.  
> I started writing this after "Tarantella", and after "Last Grimm Standing" aired, I realized I needed to kick into gear and get it posted. I know this story is going to get jossed as the season goes on, so I wanted to finish it before that happened.  
> Also, I apologize for my bastardization of the German language. I did my best. Hopefully it wasn't any worse than what you see on the show. :)  
> Once again, thank you for your time.


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